updated 04:25 pm EST, Wed February 4, 2009

India's $10 laptop neither

The $10 Sakshat laptop from India turned out to be neither at its official introduction, as it is now said to cost $30 and is little more than a computing device and not a full-function notebook as previously expected and advertised, according to a Wednesday report. The device, sized at 10 by 5 inches, is reportedly capable of nothing more than storing data accessed by connecting it to an actual computer.

Many in attendance felt at the device's unveiling on Tuesday in Tirupati, India, felt that it failed to live up to its hype. Partially engineered by students of India's Sri Venkateswara University. R.P. Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, who displayed the device, said that the costs of the device could be brought down with the economies of scale that come with mass production, though failed to elaborate and specify how low the price would go.

At the exhibition, some supporters of the device said that with the use of the Sakshat, a notebook PC can be built and cost about $60. The device was said to be able to access priced versions of paid web content and meant to replace the cost of textbooks a student would buy in a school year. [viaHindu]